Archive for September 2013

Last season on NBC’s big-family drama, “Parenthood,” the overwhelming storyline was one family member’s battle with breast cancer. How does that not overshadow all of the other storylines? However, in case you missed it, there were plenty of situations in which Autism Spectrum Disorder continued to be woven in – most notably when Max Braverman was elected student council president!

In can you need a refresher or haven’t ever seen the show, Max is character who has Asperger’s syndrome. I’ve chronicled parts of past seasons in previous blog posts, here and here.

I invite you to watch it tonight (Thursdays) at 10 PM and follow along with me this season. I’ll plan on providing a little commentary and important updates about how Max tackles middle school every several episodes, so please let me know what you think about this season – I think they’ve done a great job capturing at least one picture of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Sometimes we at Seattle Children’s Autism Center get questions or concerns from parents about some of the unusual mannerisms children with autism display. In an earlier blog post, we discussed many of these behaviors and why our kids do these things. One question (not covered in that post) we often hear is this: “Is what I’m seeing a tic?” when it comes to repetitive vocalizations or motor movements.

To answer this question, we turned to an expert on tic disorders, Samuel Zinner, M.D. Dr. Zinner is an associate professor of pediatrics and a developmental-behavioral pediatrician at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital. His research, advocacy and clinical interests focus on tic disorders and associated conditions including Autism Spectrum Disorders. Read full post »

A new, early learning story time geared towards children ages 10 and under who have a hard time in larger story time groups, are on the autism spectrum, or are sensitive to sensory overload is beginning at two branches of the Seattle Public Library System. All appropriate aged children are invited to any of the story times, but this story time may be more enjoyable for some children with autism. Librarians will use preschool-level books, songs and movement during the story times. Read full post »

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